ALL
South Asia
ICH Materials 50
-
Shital Pati: A Traditional Handicraft of BangladeshShital pati (literally “cool mat”) is an age-old traditional handicraft item of Bangladesh, which is sometimes used as alternative to bed sheets. For generations, people living in the Northeastern districts in the country, such as Sylhet, Moulvibazar, Habiganj, Sunamganj, Netrokona, and Brahmanbaria, have been making the popular craft item either from the finest types of cane or murta plants (Schumannianthus dichotomus) growing near bodies of water in the region.\n\nAs a traditional craft practice, the making of shital pati is championed by families. It becomes the the only means of livelihood of around 8,000 people in the prolonged monsoon when cultivable lands in the vast low-lying areas go under water. Every member of shital pati–weaving–families takes part in preparing the raw materials and in the actual process of weaving.There are three varieties of shital pati: normal, jamdani, and nakshi pati (“decorated mat”).\n\nTypically, it takes five days to make a normal one; eight to nine days to make a jamdani mat; almost a month to weave an embroidered mat. Their price varies from Tk 500 to Tk 2,500, depending on design and size. The product is sold throughout the year in the rural market and outlets of different chain stores located in the posh areas.\n\nThe craft item was inscribed on the national list of Intangible Cultural Heritage by People’s Republic of Bangladesh in 2007. The country has also applied to UNESCO for its inscription on the Representative List of Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity with the title “Traditional Art of Shital Pati Weaving of Sylhet”. The application will be examined in the twelfth session of the Intergovernmental Committee for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage to be held in December 2017 in the Republic of Korea.\n\nPhoto : Weavers in Sylhet pose with a shital pati © New AgeYear2017NationBangladesh
-
The Spectacular Durga Puja of West BengalDurga Puja sits at the core of Bengali identity in India. It is also the biggest annual festival in the Indian state of West Bengal. Held in autumn, between September and October, Durga Puja is essentially a Hindu religious event, but the celebrations transcend all barriers of religion and creed, generating a night-long carnival of the masses for four to five days.\n\nThe phenomenon of Community Durga Puja, organized by residents of different localities, adds a unique social dimension to the festival. There are thousands of committees which organize Community Durga Puja across West Bengal. Teeming crowds zigzag their way through a maze of roads, streets, and lanes in the city of Kolkata all through the night. They come in droves—in cars, in taxis, and on foot—to catch glimpses of the idols, lights, themes, and the pavilions housing the deities called pandals. Over the years, the social-liberal polity of Bengal has accommodated a vast range of socio-cultural themes as well as various folk art and craft forms in the design of the idols, pandals, and illumination at the community Durga Pujas. The entire city of Kolkata becomes a public art space.\n\nThe photograph shows a pavilion celebrating intangible cultural heritage in the festival this year, held from September 26 to September 30. This Community Puja titled ‘Swarna Chitra’ is named after the leading woman scroll painter Swarna Chitrakar. Swarna is an exponent of Patachitra, a traditional storytelling art form of West Bengal where the artist sings the story while unfurling the scroll.\n\nPhoto : © banglanatak dot comYear2017NationIndia